British Industrial History

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and
manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 133,996 pages of
information and 212,788 images on early companies, their products and the
people who designed and built them.

Accles-Turrell

From Graces Guide

Accles-Turrell, makers of cars, of Perry Barr, Birmingham between 1899 and 1901, and Ashton-under-Lyne from 1901 to 1902.

The company began in 1899 when the British pioneer motorist Charles McRobie Turrell, who had helped organise the 1896 London-Brighton "Emancipation" run, joined Accles, a Birmingham engineering company, later forming Accles-Turrell[1].

1899 Accles and Turrell took out a joint patent for a hydraulic clutch mechanism[2]

The Accles-Turrell car was a 3 hp two-seater light carriage equipped with a single cylinder engine of Accles manufacture with mahogany bodywork by Mulliners. The engine drove the rear wheels by belt to the 3 speed gearbox and chain to the wheels. The top speed was claimed to be 20 mph (33 km/h).

In 1901 a larger four seat 10/15 hp car was made and the rights to this "vibrationless, very simple, quiet and efficient" "New Turrell" car were acquired by Pollock of Ashton-under-Lyne. The car had a flat twin 10/15 hp engine under the front seat driving the rear wheels through a two speed constant mesh gearbox. The car was later made by the Autocar Construction Co and sold as the Hermes.